I was reading the WWI thread comparing different S.E.5a's and looking up the models on their home sites. On HobbyKing, looking at their DuraFly model, I noted that it was out of stock in the US warehouse. Then the pop-up opened, offering me a discount, and (Yeah, I'm susceptible to impulse buying) I thought "Hey, they got new stock in!" and ordered it.

Later in the day, I had a few minutes free, so I checked in with their help chat, to ask if they had an expected stock arrival date. Now, I know there's a language barrier, so I don't feel like I was mistreated, or anything, but I was told that 1) they don't know when to expect stock, 2) customers cannot order that model currently and 3) can we help you with anything else?

I replied that I had, in fact, ordered that model, and they had, in fact, got my money ($173, shipping included - good price!) and that I just wanted to know if they expected any soon, and the reply was 4) Thank you for the interest in our products.

Dang! Do you guys think I should follow up on this, or just wait. I'm not in any hurry, and backordered is fine, but I'm really not sure if they understand that I've ordered and payed for the plane.

I love HobbyKing, and buy a bunch of my stuff from them. I'm definitely not bashing, just want to avoid any confusion and disappointment.

"I played around with the center of gravity and it crashed much better!"

Me too; just ask for a refund and click the 'notify me' for when they come back in stock.

The discount that pops up is worthless anyway, if you have already bought plenty of stuff from HK all you have to do is sign in to receive your 'platinum member' discount.. which is the same as the price in the pop-up...

Some of my orders have been from back order status planes, and one took nearly 4 months to arrive, but it did. I got a bit impatient with them, but it all turned out well. Cancelling and re-ordering is always an option. Those very affordable prices are tempting, even if 99% of their planes are made from the worst crap foam imaginable, bar none Cheap outlay lessens the pain of those flying eggshells disintegrating on impact

Yeah, I'm in no hurry, and I am a big fan of cheap, so I'm just leaving it on backorder. If it takes several months, I'll probably have already forgotten anything else I could have spent the money on, so it'll be like getting a free plane!

"I played around with the center of gravity and it crashed much better!"

spad,i owe you an apology......i didn't know you were beaten by an ugly woman in a dark alley. this explains everything. dude ,let it go...she probably won't do it again if you stop going in dark allies.....

what do i know,never been beaten by anyone that i didn't fight back,so never embarrassed.[though i did get a serious beating in high school,never should have challenged a psychopath/sado-masochist with a criminal record cause he chuckled at my arguing with my girl friend...lol.]

now as far as hobbyking goes,i use them for batteries and misc items that i know it's quality.parkjet is cheap and loads of fun ,hxt 900 servos are great for parkflyers...but don't get upset if it's DOA. don't waste your money there if you can buy from local stores and give them your business. failure to use local hobby shop will cause them to become extinct.plus many will order your needs and save you shipping cost. at least my local shop does and matchs prices on the net for tower or horizon parts.

narrow is the place to land...wide is the space to crash....choose the narrow way!

spad,i owe you an apology......i didn't know you were beaten by an ugly woman in a dark alley. this explains everything. dude ,let it go...she probably won't do it again if you stop going in dark allies.....

what do i know,never been beaten by anyone that i didn't fight back,so never embarrassed.[though i did get a serious beating in high school,never should have challenged a psychopath/sado-masochist with a criminal record cause he chuckled at my arguing with my girl friend...lol.]

now as far as hobbyking goes,i use them for batteries and misc items that i know it's quality.parkjet is cheap and loads of fun ,hxt 900 servos are great for parkflyers...but don't get upset if it's DOA. don't waste your money there if you can buy from local stores and give them your business. failure to use local hobby shop will cause them to become extinct.plus many will order your needs and save you shipping cost. at least my local shop does and matchs prices on the net for tower or horizon parts.

Apology accepted: it is about as pleasant as a dog bite (a metaphor, you know).

1) Never *EVER* order items that are back ordered.
2) Look for review/build threads on Wattflyer or RCGroups and look for pitfalls BEFORE you buy,
3) Expect an occasional DOA item and understand that the expensive overseas postage will prevent you from returning it.

Case in point for #3: I've ordered a total of five HobbyKing branded 60A ESC. One was faulty on arrival, but since the ones that work perform great and cost a fraction of non-HK stuff, so it's a considerable saving even counting the DOA unit.

Following those simple rules, I've really gotten a lot of enjoyment out of my HK products.

(And please accept my apologies for any spelling errors, grammatical errors or misuse of words or expressions. As some of you know, English isn't my native language).

spad,what ever happened to humor?....,some may not get it,but i think you have a humor all your own and actually is pretty funny.folks just shouldn't let others get under their skin....worlds full of thin skinned folks.

i expessally like the way we keep the topic in the discussion.

hobby kings ok......................................

PEACE,LOVE AND RESPECT TO ALL!!!!!!!AS FAR AS IT DEPENDS ON ME,I'LL LIVE IN PEACE WITH EVERYONE.

narrow is the place to land...wide is the space to crash....choose the narrow way!